Family members have recounted the painful final moments of their loved ones who perished in the chopper crash that claimed the life of Emurua Dikirr MP Johanna Ng’eno.
Speaking on Wednesday, March 4, the family of Kenya Forest Service (KFS) officer Amos Kipng’etich described his final moments after the aircraft went down, revealing that he passed away 30 minutes after the incident.
“Amos tried to jump out of the aircraft, but it was in vain. He is the one who survived for about 30 minutes, but when he was interrogated, he only asked a question, ‘Where is Mheshimiwa?'” a family representative said.
Ng’eno’s widow, Nayianoi Ntutu, paid an emotional tribute to her husband, reflecting on their life together and the dreams they shared before the fatal crash cut them short.
“Losing you feels like losing the music of my youth; the laughter, the dreams, and the simplicity of believing we have endless times, but even death cannot take what we built,” she said.
Betty Bett, sister-in-law to the late Nick Kosgey who served as Ng’eno’s photographer, remembered him as a hardworking young man whose career had just begun to flourish.
“Nick was a young and ambitious person, and he was very industrious in the work that he did. When Mheshimiwa recognised his work, Nick was very happy. His mother was very happy because she knew that life had begun, not knowing that it was going to be cut short,” she stated.
The brother of the late pilot George Were also honoured his sibling, highlighting his long and distinguished career both in the military and in civilian aviation.
“Our late brother George was an accomplished pilot. He served about 30 years in the military, and he ‘choppered’ so many generals in the military, and when he retired from the army, he became a commercial pilot for about 10 years. In those 10 years, he’s ‘choppered’ many dignitaries we have in the house today,” he noted.
